


Starting to sound like a Better Ending

by Webtrinsic



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Ahsoka Tano Gets a Hug, Ahsoka Tano Needs a Hug, Ahsoka Tano-centric, Aliens are still aliens, Child Neglect, Divorce, F/M, Families of Choice, Fencing, Human Disaster Anakin Skywalker, Indie Movie Inspired, Jedi as Found Family (Star Wars), Melancholy, Padawan Ahsoka Tano, Panic Attacks, Protective Anakin Skywalker, Protective Darth Maul, Protectiveness, Summer Camp, Summer Camp AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-03
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-03-12 17:08:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28513971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Webtrinsic/pseuds/Webtrinsic
Summary: Ahsoka doesn't know what to expect when she goes to Camp Coruscant for the summer, she certainly doesn't expect to join their family of counselors. But it's the best thing that's ever happened to her.
Relationships: Anakin Skywalker & Ahsoka Tano, Darth Maul & Ahsoka Tano, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Ahsoka Tano, Obi-Wan Kenobi/Satine Kryze, Padmé Amidala & Ahsoka Tano, Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker
Comments: 13
Kudos: 76





	Starting to sound like a Better Ending

**Author's Note:**

> i kinda wish my ass didn't have social anxiety so i could have gone to summer camp or something but like I'm 19 now and a wreck so thats never happening lololol. but i also love some indie movie stuff so i did this but i couldn't imagine writing a full human au

Ahsoka can state clearly her life isn’t horrible, there is no bane of her existence, nor is there a crushing weight pulling her down. She is simply lacking a purpose and is far from in touch with herself. She wouldn’t necessarily say she felt incomplete, but there is a hesitant confirmation that there is more to her she has yet to discover. 

Her family's rainy apartment and her lack of friends attest to that fact. More often than not the small space is filtered with bickering words that her montrals are forced to listen to. Her parents would divorce soon, and maybe she should be sad, potentially angry, especially as they ultimately decide it’s best to send her away for the proceedings.

Individually they are well-meaning people, but they are negligible parents. The mere fact that they agreed to the camp she chose, even though they claimed it seemed cultish, was a shock to her system. It is also surprising her father took to driving her the two day long trip himself. Then again it’s a break from her mother and the never ending paper work so she doesn’t know why she’s surprised. He’s driving for himself, not for her.

Trees filter out the rising sun, their patterns painting shadows over her face as a dull song plays on the radio. She’d reach to change it but it was too much of an effort and her father seemed to enjoy the meaningless lyrics. 

They still had a long road ahead of them, and sadly it’d be filled with crappy music.

* * *

It’s hell on her anxiety to pull her weighted bags from the trunk, not getting so much as a goodbye. Her father driving off the second she managed to shut the trunk. The togruta huffed, head lifting when her bag was taken.

“Hello there,” a ginger man smiled, “Welcome to Camp Coruscant I’m senior camp counselor Obi-Wan Kenobi,” 

Ahsoka can’t help but return his smile, “I’m Ahsoka, Ahsoka Tano,” the two move from the road, Ahsoka following her camp counselor towards the bustle of kids, most running to the other counselors or to their cabins, likely having been here before.

“It’s nice to meet you Ahsoka, over there are the girls cabins, the boys, the counselors quarters are behind those trees there. That building there is the grand hall where we hold announcements, meetings, movie nights, and where we eat,” his free hand gestures to each building, passing over the few activities she’s sure they’d get to later. They head towards two counselors, a man marred with a scar and a woman with very intricate braids. The man’s head is turned towards the road, and Ahsoka finds her head turning as well. 

He’s watching the retreating cars with disdain, in fact she can see her father’s car fully disappearing into the trees. The sight is enough to turn her head back, only to realize he’d done the same. Had he been watching her father?

“Ahsoka Tano,” Obi-Wan introduces, the brunette woman gave her an assuring smile, flipping through her clipboard and crossing her name off their list.

“I’m Padme, why don’t I show you to your cabin?” Ahsoka nods, moving to take her bag, but the nameless scarred man takes it instead, gesturing for her to follow Padme. The two go off, Anakin nearly in tow before Obi-Wan catches his arm.

“Try not to look so upset Anakin, the poor girl is probably overwhelmed already,”

“He didn’t even tell her bye, he let her struggle and left,” Yes, yes her father had. Obi-Wan hadn’t been happy either, in fact he’d been appalled, but he’d gone over instead, knowing if it’d been Anakin that car wouldn’t likely have a bumper.

“I know Anakin, I know,” he soothes, trying not to let his own anger rise. The man, nicknamed the chosen one for his prowess in nearly everything he did, nodded, moving after his girlfriend and the young togruta.

* * *

She knows they said there was a curfew at their camp meeting, but Ahsoka is far too restless to stay in her cabin surrounded by girls she doesn’t know nor does she really want to befriend.

Most of the campers, otherwise called the padawans, were humans but there were a few aliens. A mirialan, a twi’lek, and two tholithians. The boy’s had a few other species that made her feel a little better, but there was no other togruta for her to try and befriend.

Slipping from her cabin, Ahsoka made her way through the chilly night and settled at the end of the dock. The moon reflected on the water, the shadow of her montrals encompassing the moon in the middle of it’s peaks.

It was stupid, maybe even silly, but she’d thought just being here would give her some semblance of relief, but she felt just as much as an outsider here than she did at home. Then again, it’d only been a day, a short one at that.

The lake rivets where bugs dip, breaking surface tension if only for a second before righting itself again. 

“You shouldn’t be out here little one,” a voice she recognizes from their evening meeting startles her, counselor-Jedi Anakin Skywalker. She should take it as a sign to get up, but her feet don’t seem to be listening.

The dock creaks and the man takes a seat beside her, his presence making her inch over to accommodate. His heat is welcome, she hadn’t realized how cold it’d gotten. Actually, she doesn’t even know how long she’d been out here, the moon was no longer even level with her shadows peaks.

The bottoms of his shoes graze the water, disturbing the calm. 

“You ever fence?” It’s not what she expects him to say, but she shakes her head finally looking up at him. His posture is hunched enough her neck doesn’t strain and she appreciates it because she can already tell his position isn’t exactly comfortable.

“I try to teach it to the padawans that are willing to try, tomorrow, if you want. I’ll show you as well,”

“You want me to join your class?” she asks incredulously, feeling less special than she had a second ago when she figured he was trying to comfort her and was not just looking for students.

“I do, but as my own personal protege,” Anakin insists, and that settles the irritation in her gut and leaves confusion in its wake.

“Why me?”

Fencing does sound interesting, in fact she’d almost taken it up in the past. Her parent’s had enrolled her in her second option gymnastics instead, it having been cheaper since they wouldn’t have to buy all the equipment. She’d forgotten all about that desire after her first lesson, so it had worked out.

“Because you’re like me,” he’s standing, arm offered and she takes it before rising to her feet, “A fighter I can tell. Now come on I’m walking you back to your cabin so no bear eats you or something,” 

Ahsoka isn’t sure if he’s joking or not and settles under his offered arm, trembling from the cold. Anakin holds her a little tighter then, and she appreciates it, she hasn’t had a hug in a long time. And she knows it's not a hug, nonetheless it’s nice.

“Night Ahsoka,”

“Goodnight Jedi Skywalker,”

* * *

Ahsoka takes to fencing like no other padawan has before. So much so that Anakin is positively beaming, the togruta’s raw talent mesmerizing. The other campers are watching with awe and the other Jedi cheer her on. Anakin chuckles, chest being tapped with her parry, effectively ending their match. 

“You sure you’re a master?” the girl teases, taking off her protective shielding and looking up at the man.

“Haha snips, I was just letting you win.” it’s an obvious lie, but he claps her on the back with an affectionate pat.

Raising a white brow, “Snips?”

“Because you’re snippy,” He explains, and the girl resigns herself to the nickname, not minding it at all. 

* * *

The bonfire crackles and the padawans take turns telling ghost stories, Sith (codename for the resident carpenters and janitorial staff) Maul had been forced up by Jedi Kenobi and honestly it was a terrible idea. The man’s stories were haunting to the point half the younger campers were hugging each other with tears forming in their eyes. 

Ahsoka listened with rapt attention, leaning forward from her spot between Obi-Wan and Padme who was cradled in Anakin’s side. The dathomirian moved as he spoke, the motions of his arms sweeping and fanning the flames causing them to rise.

Embers sparked and the flickering of the flames illuminated the aliens black and blood red facial markings, his yellow eyes breaking through the souls of the cowering padawans until they landed on Ahsoka’s wide and intrigued eyes.

A rare smile tugs at the corner of his lips as he continues his story with something close to righteous fury. 

It would seem she made a friend.

* * *

Padawans weren’t supposed to be in the counselors lounge but when Ahsoka knocked and stepped in, making herself at home. They regarded her as if she’d always been there, and Padme thought back to the extra Jedi shirt they had in the cupboard.

It’d only take her a minute to embroider _‘In training’_ on the blue shirt, funnily enough it was the exact same shade as her stripes. 

The two women sat back on the couch, playing go fish, Padme’s feet up on the table and Ahsoka leaned against the arm rest her feet on Padme’s lap. Maul was there too, fixing the leaky sink but otherwise ignoring them.

“Go fish,” Ahsoka giggled all too smugly, watching as another card was added to Padme’s hand. The older woman simply smiled, all too endeared. Her mind made up. Ahsoka would be a lovely camp counselor. 

* * *

Obi-Wan had pulled together the paperwork the minute Padme had brought the idea up with him at lunch. Anakin, who had seen the papers strung together on Obi-Wan’s desk that day, had run from the mess hall and practically tackled the older man.

“Ahsoka’s becoming a Jedi?” 

Obi-Wan didn’t think he’d seen Anakin this excited since they finally allowed him to start teaching fencing to the padawans.

“It was Padme’s idea, but we figured it would be best if you ask,” Obi-Wan informed, his own tone hopeful, he wanted their little family to grow almost as badly as Anakin did.

* * *

The lake is warm under the beating sun, Ahsoka sit’s prominently on Obi-Wan’s shoulders as she tries to knock Padme off Anakin’s. They haven’t asked her yet, still waiting for later that night at the next bonfire where they’d be roasting marshmallows and making s’mores. 

Anakin would present her with the shirt, and if she said yes they would announce it to the other padawans, and maybe Maul would make her one of his famous perfectly toasted s'mores. He’s never made them for anyone, but it didn’t go unnoticed by the counselors that he somehow made a perfect s'more everytime. Honestly that damn treat had been taunting them in their sleep.

Padme eventually sent Ahsoka back into the water, Obi-Wan toppling with her. If Obi-Wan hadn’t righted her after, she’d have probably drowned laughing.

* * *

When the shirt is handed to her Ahsoka can’t hear anything, the crackling of the fire, the rowdy conversations of the other padawans, or even Anakin (if he’s still even talking). She can feel his stare, he’s probably just waiting for an answer that she knows she cannot give, but she yearns to say yes.

Yearns so badly that the part of her she’d been searching for is so clear, but her life is so uncertain she doesn’t know if she’ll ever get to see it. Ahsoka doesn’t know if she’ll be living with her mother or father, where they’ll even live, if they’ll even pay for her to come here again. She doesn’t know and her heart and eyes burn. There’s panic and despair building in her chest and her head falls limply into the shirt. Thankfully her lungs are so shot she can’t even scream.

The three counselors, her new friends, her only friends, watch tersely. Unable to pinpoint what exactly is happening, and surprisingly it is Maul who is always lurking in the shadows that says something.

“She’s having a panic attack, get her somewhere quiet,” his voice is low, his usual gravel somber but it’s still said in such a way that the other younglings don’t hear it. Anakin jumps into action, Padme’s firm yank on his shoulder stopping him from being brash.

Anakin always wanted to help, but his head fast approach wasn’t what was needed for this situation. So when Padme instructs him to distract the other campers, he does even though his hands itch to comfort his protege/newly appointed little sister.

Obi-Wan manages to discreetly lift the girl up after Padme helped calm her down enough and brought her back to the counselors quarters where Padme and the girl ended up curled together in her bunk.

Anakin steps in soon after, looking out of breath meaning he’d ran there, “Maul’s getting everyone back to their cabin’s,” He takes in the sight of his little family curled together, Obi-Wan sitting on the bed beside them, looking down at them worriedly.

Minutes or hours pass, however long it takes, eventually Ahsoka hiccups, burying her face in Padme’s throat with a gentle, “I’m sorry,” 

“None of that, there’s nothing to be sorry for,” Obi-Wan assures as Padme strokes the girls back lekku, shaking her head against her montrals trying to banish the apology from her mind.

“I really _really_ want to say yes, but I don’t know if I can,” the fifteen year old wails, hoping _-praying_ that this won’t be her only summer here. That she won’t lose this grand piece of herself she’d only just come into contact with.

The image of her father’s car driving off flashes in their minds, the fact this is her first time here rings in their heads, and never before have they worried so greatly for the future.

“We still have all summer to figure it out,” Anakin offers, the broken sound of her voice breaking his heart. Her teary eyes peak up at him over Padme’s shoulder, looking for some sort of conviction that isn’t just his voice.

The pointed melancholy glance on Obi-Wan’s face also tells Anakin he has to be real, it is possible she may never come back.

“And if we don’t, well...let’s make some good memories as a Jedi in training. And when you can, when you’re older and on your own, you can always come home,” 

* * *

It’s movie night and the masses are arguing over what movie to watch until finally they settle on something agreeable. With the mixed age groups and what Maul liked to call, ‘The puny sensitive ones’ they ended up deciding on Homeward Bound.

The tables and benches had all been pushed against the walls. Setting up the grand hall had been Ahsoka’s first task as a Jedi Knight in training, Anakin being her first and foremost Master.

When she’d returned back to her cabin the girls there congratulated her, one girl Barriss even going so far as to help her carry her things to her newly cleared out bunk in the counselors quarters.

Blankets and pillows were everywhere, the floor entirely covered as they projected the movie onto the stage’s screen. If that didn’t make it enough of a death trap for one's ankles, mugs of hot cocoa were either in kid’s hands or by their side likely to be toppled over.

The youngest and some of the shorter kids were in the front closest to the screen and as age went up it crawled towards the back. It hadn’t been assigned that way, but it often ended up the same, even since Obi-Wan was a young lad the set up had been similar. Except ever since Anakin had become a Jedi, instead of loitering in the back, he demanded a space right in the middle of the room. And from then on that's where they sat, and normally only Maul sat, sometimes stood, in the very back to watch over things. 

“Lady Tano,” his gravelly tenor startles her and the other counselors who turn to the dathomirian, staring heavily at the intoxicating s’more sitting on the plate in his hand. She’d completely forgotten she’d missed out on the s’mores the other night.

“Thank you,” she replies earnestly, taking the confectionery before the man stalks off. Her three counterparts are absolutely gawking. Smugly she takes a bite and is blessed by the taste. It tastes even better when dipped in her hot cocoa, but she cannot save her treat from Anakin who begs for a bite.

* * *

Anakin sprains his wrist on the rockwall and Ahsoka takes to teaching fencing with gusto. Barriss joins her class and the girl is the first friend her age she’s ever had.

Obi-Wan sits her down to gather pamphlets and paperwork, signing this as her first real job and also cites her work as community service in case she ever needs it for school or something of the sort. They exchange contact information, her own and not her parents; that will surely change. Obi-Wan is careful to mark almost every paper with his, Padme’s, Anakin’s, and even Maul’s information if she ever needs it. She has him write it on her bag’s tag as well.

There’s a month left of summer, and she tries not to let dread loom over head.

It’s late and only her and the counselors are up. Maul tells stories of blood and gore he’d held back before and begrudgingly teaches them how to roast the perfect marshmallow. Anakin's lights on fire and falls into a sticky charred mess on the dirt as they wail with laughter.

Padme gets the closest to perfecting the confectionery and Ahsoka and Obi-Wan aren’t far behind.

Ahsoka looks at all her new shirts, ones that designates her as a trainee and others a full on knight. She doesn’t know how’ll she'll make them all fit in her bag, but she is determined to try.

A loth-cat finds its way into the mess hall and Ahsoka thinks back to all the stray loth-cats at her family's apartment building, normally soaked from the rain and looking for shelter she is not allowed to give. The cat starts to sleep with her on her bunk and with a new collar he’s an honorary Jedi as well. Obi-Wan comes up with the name Kyber and it sticks.

Anakin finds a yellow slug and slings it across his nose and Padme nearly throws up at the sight of it. The kids on the hike with them follow his lead, and suddenly a new challenge for camp coruscant is born.

A public works woman appears one day, talking with Obi-Wan about the plumbing and the land to make sure everything's A-okay for campers, and Ahsoka is almost sure he and the blonde have something going on. He blushes when she asks but he doesn’t deny it.

The sun keeps going down faster and all too soon it’s her last week and she is helping put away some of the bigger activities. Such as putting up the canoes, taking down some of the farther back archery targets, locking up the gates of some of the larger more extensive hiking trails, and tightening the animal feeders for the fall and winter.

She helps Padme bake her famous parting cookies, and Ahsoka takes a long moment to hug her pseudo older sister when she is presented with her own goodie bag of treats for the road...ho-to her apartment. It doesn’t matter that they’re caked in flour and will almost certainly need to change.

The cabins get cleared and for their last night everyone sleeps in the grand hall (even Kyber), toppled together as it rains, the sky crying.

She is home, she is whole, and Ahsoka doesn’t know if she will be tomorrow. 

* * *

When her father’s car pulls up, Anakin is the one who makes a statement by placing her things in the trunk. She hugs him, Obi-Wan, and Padme bye. Maul gets a nod, and Barriss waves her goodbye. The remaining campers waiting for their parents cheer her name, and Ahsoka very purposefully situates herself in the backseat. Her father looking at her through the rearview as if she isn’t his daughter before shaking the thought away and driving them off through the archway of trees.

She can see from his ring free hand things had gone according to plan, plans she does not know or care about at the moment because for now she’s unlocking her phone, it having been useless without service at camp and entering in her new contacts, planning for next summer, even if that summer isn’t until she’s eighteen years old.

She doesn’t know, and maybe when they get back to the apartment and her mother and father sit her down to explain all the details she can fill in the gaps and work out those loose ends. But for now, she sits and watches the shadows of the trees and the water droplets running down the window, not saying goodbye but rather she’ll be back soon.

**Author's Note:**

> Snap: allisonw1122  
> Tumblr/twitter: webtrinsic1122  
> Insta:Webtrinsic


End file.
